Finally, word from the top on rape in the military

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, right, and Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley, left, during a hearing on Capitol Hill before the Senate Armed Services Committee about how the military justice system deals with sexual assaults.J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press photo

Sexual assault in the military is a widespread and pervasive problem. The Pentagon recorded 3,374 sexual assault reports in the military last year, up 33 percent in two years. But military culture has resisted change to address these sex crimes in a federal workplace. Today, President Obama said he had enough.“The bottom line is, I have no tolerance for this,” he told reporters. “If we find out somebody’s engaging in this stuff, they’ve got to be held accountable, prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged – period.”

Obama has asked for Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to work harder to prevent sex crimes in the military and hold offenders accountable.

Will word from the commander in chief step up efforts to change military culture and protocol to address these assaults? Yes, and it is long overdue.

Congress, meanwhile, has targeted the Air Force, where the officer in charge of sexual assault prevention efforts was arrested for sexual battery in Arlington, Va., over the weekend.

Pentagon research has found that 26,000 military personnel experienced unwanted sexual contact last year. Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group, noted that the Pentagon found 56 percent of the victims of sexual assault in the military are men. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, has federal legislation to change the military justice system so that sexual assault cases are reviewed by an independent agency. A hearing on Capitol Hill resulted in promises from lawmakers for renewed efforts to pass legislation to battle the problem. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said, “While under our legal system everyone is innocent until proven guilty, this arrest speaks volumes about the status and effectiveness of (the Defense) department’s efforts to address the plague of sexual assaults in the military.”